Kicking off this Saturday (12 August) is Game 1 of the ACT Gridiron Women’s league. The league is fielding 3 Women’s teams this season – the Central Spears, the Tuggeranong Tornadoes and the we-don’t-know-where-they-are-from Diamonds.

It seems like forever ago that the Central Spears hoisted the first ACTG Women’s championship trophy but in reality, it was only 1045 days ago…

Boasting arguably the league’s most experienced players, including quarterback Danielle De Groot and Centre/O-Lineman Sarah Macarthur-Tuivaiti, the Spears will start the competition as the favourites to be back to back champions.

The Diamonds don’t boast as much experience across the board as the Spears – but they still have a few experienced players bolstering the side – players like Kaya Hinge and Sam Palmer are original Diamonds and they are joined by experienced Sirens imports Tracey Stuart and Pettra Zucchelli.

Rumour (and for that matter, fact) has it that the Diamonds have also entered in the Gridiron NSW competition this season.

Watch out for: Will quarterback Sarah Butterworth build on her impressive rookie season or will she suffer the sophomore slump?

Despite holding claim to being the first established women’s team in the ACT, the Tornadoes of 2017 are the least experienced of the three sides vying for the championship. We believe that when Sirens were unable to enter a team this year, the majority of their players went across to the Tornadoes – so expect to see the towering Daniela Stosic wearing a navy blue jersey while causing havoc to opposition players.

Is it going to be a long season for the inexperienced ‘nadoes – or will they fly under the raider to be a Championship contender?

One to watch: The Tornadoes O-line and D-line featuring Outback representative Daniela Stosic.